Five persons were killed on the spot when a car in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary transport corporation bus at Singarakottai near Batlagundu in the early hours of Friday.

The deceased have been identified as M. Joseph, (48), his daughter Jesmi Joseph, a student of Sathyabama University, Chennai, his sons Johnny (26) and Jomi Jose (19), and car driver Sunil (32), all belonging to Kottayam in Kerala.

The bodies were shifted to the Dindigul Government Hospital for post-mortem.

The father and sons were returning to Kottayam after picking up Jesmi Joseph from Chennai for Onam.

The police said the car rammed the bus that was waiting for passengers to alight at Singarakottai bus stop. The car’s front portion was completely crushed. Fire brigade and police personnel struggled for more than two hours to remove the bodies.